Britain’s Chief Rabbi blames declining religious belief for “the spread of depression, stress, eating disorders and drug and alcohol abuse.” Because religion causes you to do good things, and nonbelief causes you to do bad things. It’s so simple! (Mail)

And bigots with delicate sensitivities that must under no circumstances be upset by inadvertent contact with filthy evil menstruating women, also ride buses. That’s why Egged, Israel’s largest bus company, is continuing to maintain sex-segregation on routes that pass through Haredi districts, where women must sit at the back and men sit at the front. This is in spite of a 2006 incident in which a 50-year-old Canadian woman, on her way to pray at the Western Wall, was set upon by the local Taliban “modesty patrol” who punched, kicked, slapped and pushed her when she refused to sit at the rear of an Egged bus. (All well in keeping with the thesis that religious faith is a prerequisite for moral behaviour, as you can see.) (Jerusalem Post)

I want to begin by acknowledging the least objectionable, and in some cases semi-reasonable elements of his argument. Islamic schools are not just faith schools, he contends: they are also bilingual schools.

Bilingual Muslim children need to learn standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity.

Agreed. And I would add the obvious point that proficiency in English will enable these children to function as productive citizens and workers in Anglophone societies like the UK.

They need to be well versed in Arabic to recite and understand the Holy Quran.

Hmmm . . . OK. If a knowledge of Arabic affords one an enriched understanding of Islam and the Koran, and facilitates a critical/heuristic approach to the religion, then by all means should these kids learn Arabic. If the aim is to inculcate a submissive, dogmatic approach, whereby the main objective is for the kids to learn the text by rote, then I can’t see why the UK Government should embrace that as a funding priority.

They need to be well versed in Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.

Again, that seems valid to me, but there seem to be cognitive advantages to multilingualism that are (in my view) even more important than keeping immigrant children in touch with their cultural roots (not that the latter isn’t a valuable objective). Moreover, as Ahmad rightly points out: “A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village.” (Underline the words “global” and “village” here. They will become important later on.) Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: Bruce has a compelling post on disturbing connections between the In God We Trust foundation (remember those “Why Do Atheists Hate America?” billboards?), dominionism and the modern incarnation of the Knights Templar. These aren’t your daddy’s neo-medievalist lunatics!

A recent episode of the BBC’s “Big Debate” (hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby) looked at the role of religion in a 21st century state education system. The “negative” side, so to speak, included Richard Dawkins, who maintained that while he favours comparative religious education, faith schools by definition label children with the religion of their parents, a practice he considers abusive. Alongside Dawkins was MP Barry Sheerman, Chair of the DCSF Select Committee who doesn’t mind faith schools, as long as they’re not serious about their faith, and who cited worrying evidence of the unfair treatment of the issue of homosexuality in Catholic schools, and the poor treatment of women in Muslim schools. Speaking in favour of faith schools and religious worship in comprehensive schools was Bishop Peter Price, a former teacher who emphasised the roots of state education in C of E schools in the early 19th century, and claimed that C of E schools have an obligation to teach about other faiths. He also stressed that the history of England is a Christian history–a point he would often return to, as if it were the last word to be had on the topic. Price was joined by Oona Stannard of the Catholic Education Service, who advocates “maintained faith schools” because of their transparency and accountability, given that they are subject to inspections by Ofsted.

The programme also canvassed the opinions of a wide range of stakeholders: RE teachers and consultants, Catholic and Muslim students from both faith schools and comprehensive schools, as well as representatives of various faiths. One of the latter, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, offered a blunt, though in many ways accurate assessment of faith-based education that can be summed up in two words: religious apartheid. Read the rest of this entry »

The city council of Green Bay, Wisconsin, installs a nativity scene above the entrance to the city hall–simply to spite the Freedom From Religion Foundation and their “Madison values.” (The Carpetbagger Report)

Middle-class parents in the UK are baptising their children late to ensure they are eligible for enrolment in tax-payer funded faith schools. (The Times)

Won’t the real Mike Huckabee please stand up? The Nation uncovers the uber-fundie that is the Republican presidential candidate.

Props

Mr van Bigot [. . .] It's interesting the new morality of atheists. Commenting off topic is normal to humans. But atheists have such a rigid mind.
Your hypocrisy in accusing me of abuse is too breathtaking for words.
"Epic non sequitur." Your repetition is typical of the atheist misuse of Latin as being a magic language (also an RC delusion). Bless. (novparl, Five Public Opinions)

I’m bored waiting for signs of intelligence on this website. That’s justification enough to ignore it. Go back to your group hug now, and reassure yourselves that you’ve formed your views based on “reason” and not “faith”. (Alan, Five Public Opinions)

Hey, AV’s back. This is the infant who called me a nazi up above. Hi precious, welcome back. How was your kindy nap? Have you had your milk? ("Rebellion")

AV,
eloquence will not persuade me.
you may have a captive audience amongst your peers,but your words are like a clanging cymbal, a rather obnoxious noise after awhile. ("Saved Sinner", OzAtheist)

Cogitating about irrational, self-contradictory and anti-empirical intellectual dogmas such as falliblism does not interest me. Nor am I interested in the bigoted, selective applications of these nonsenses by one such as their zealous, close-minded ideologue. (Paul Robotham, A Churchless Faith)

a religious fundamentalist is by definition someone who is without doubt about their faith position and who spends a great deal of their time and energy promoting their faith by denouncing any person's contrary understandings of the universe.You meet this definition in with out any difficulty (Iain Hall, Malott's Blog)

Arthur reveals a little more of himself with each comment. Soon you’ll be confronted by the whole picture: Arthur uses everyone as a mirror for his own misplaced narcissism. ("Daniel", Old Lines From a Floating Life)